NATO enlargement must be approved unanimously by all 30 members of the alliance. – The two Nordic countries have repeatedly expressed their surprise at Turkey’s objections, noting that Ankara supported their demands, until the moment they submitted them.
The Prime Minister of Finland today assessed that the requests of her country and Sweden to join NATO can be frozen if an agreement is not found with Turkey – which is currently blocking their candidacies – before the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the end of the month.
NATO enlargement must be approved unanimously by all 30 members of the alliance.
The two Nordic countries have repeatedly expressed surprise at Turkey’s objections, noting that Ankara supported their demands until they submitted them.
“I think it is very important that we move forward at this stage. “If we do not solve these problems before Madrid, the situation can freeze,” said Finnish Prime Minister Sana Marin, referring to the next NATO summit to begin in the Spanish capital on June 28.
“We do not know for how long, but the situation could freeze for some time,” he told reporters in Sweden.
Ankara accuses Sweden and Finland of providing cover to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization that Turkey and its Western allies consider “terrorist”.
Marin said the two countries take Turkey’s concerns very seriously and want “if there are misunderstandings, we will correct them”.
The Prime Minister recalled that Turkey had previously stated that the Nordic countries would be admitted to NATO, but changed its tone when the requests were submitted.
“Of course, we take all issues very seriously and discuss them, but I think it is up to Turkey to try to find solutions,” Sana Marin told a joint news conference with her Scandinavian counterparts.
On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said the problem could not be resolved in time, until the Madrid summit.
The two Nordic countries, breaking the “tradition” of their neutrality, decided to join NATO, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
